Antique Bakery, Vol. 1 by Fumi Yoshinaga
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Set in Tokyo, Antique Bakery is a temptingly lavish affair run by three men. Yusuke Ono is a prodigious chef and playboy who was once cruelly rejected by Tachibana, the boy he had a crush on in high school. Several years later and the two find themselves working together in the same bakery, along with the short-tempered former boxer, Kanda. Through the everyday running of this bakery, we learn more about each of the characters and salivate over beautifully illustrated cakes.
I enjoyed all aspects of this manga from the artwork to the humour to the characterisation. I loved how these characters had such different personalities and the way it made them all stand out, each with their own memorable quirk. I also adored how this manga developed the unsettling nature of Tachibana’s past as well as Ono’s deep-seated fears. The constant friction between Tachibana and Kanda was incongruous at times, but it also provided some comic relief.
Overall, I was not disappointed by Antique Bakery and I have every intention of continuing the series!
LochanReads 